


A Bullet to the Heart

by CJ_fics



Series: The Team within the Team [10]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Multi, Quiggle-centric, established Dyla, established olicity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-24 22:45:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4937926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CJ_fics/pseuds/CJ_fics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on Season 4 spoilers. Oliver takes a bullet meant for John. And he is livid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bullet to the Heart

_The goddamned bastard took a bullet for me. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit._

The words are running on John Diggle’s mind as he stands by the entrance of the med-bay, as if in guard, observing Felicity stitching up Oliver’s right upper arm. She’s murmuring something to Oliver that John can’t hear, but he can see that she is trying to be as gentle with Oliver as possible, caressing the uninjured body parts lovingly in between her emergency care tasks. Oliver has his left hand lightly resting on Felicity’s waist and his eyes on her in what John (and Roy) have long named “ _Felicity Smoak is the most remarkable human being in the universe and I am her puppy_ ” look as she disinfects, numbs and stitches up his latest bullet wound.

_The bullet wound that should have been on somewhere lodged in my chest_ , John scowls.

When Felicity gave him and Oliver a much-deserved tongue-lashing a few days back for how they worked – or _not_ worked – in the field together, John thought that that was directed more towards him. He knows that Oliver had been trying to show that he has his – and the rest of the team’s – back ever since he rejoined the team and the mission that he had started. It was him, John Diggle, who had chosen to barely communicate with Oliver during their field missions – which caused him and Oliver to  be almost blown up into smithereens a few days back.

Resulting in Felicity’s Loud Voice directed at the two of them to not let their resentment and anger towards each other bleed over to when they were facing their common enemies. 

_It was an epic dressing down_ , John admits. And he never thought he would be ever be on the receiving end of Felicity’s rants. Those were usually reserved for Oliver Queen. He had admitted to himself – and to Lyla once he got home – that it was a strange feeling to be in the receiving end of Felicity’s ire.

More than that, John never expected that Oliver would take Felicity’s words to heart so much that he would step into a bullet aimed towards John’s chest – and then react to John’s awe about his actions with a helpless shrug and a “ _Meh._ ”

_Of course, he would_ , John shakes his head at himself for forgetting how those two worked. Oliver has always listened to Felicity – even before they became an “us”. Oliver has always taken Felicity’s concerns seriously, and sought to correct such concerns through actions and words. Oliver has always accepted Felicity’s counsel – Loud Voice or not – and acted on them.

This time is no different.

_So, it’s really not surprising that Oliver would take a bullet for him to show Felicity that he was going to have John’s back on the field_ , John admits to himself.

_But that’s not fair either_ , John amends in his mind. To believe that Oliver had his back just because Felicity commanded them both to take care of each other out in the field is to disregard their history – him and Oliver’s – as teammates, as friends, as partners.

John knows that a year ago, he would not have been awed by such an action from Oliver. That would have been par for the course. For both of them.

_Not that I would not do the same for Oliver – or any teammate_ , John muses.

John’s scowl deepens as he mulls over why he was so upset about what Oliver did for him tonight.

The two of them maintained a status quo for the past two months. Well, the three of them, really. Him and Oliver had sustained a terse but polite working relationship, only speaking of field missions, and common enemies and goals – and Felicity allowed it, not pushing any of them for more. The old camaraderie between him and Oliver was lost with Oliver not feeling deserving of it because of his actions as Al Sah-him, and John not willing to make the effort.

It was a fractured partnership, but it worked. They could both live with it – Felicity would never force them to be anything more.

_Until the goddamned bastard took a bullet for me_ , John scoffs, his anger returning full force.

“What, John?” Felicity asks, not looking at him as she bandaged Oliver’s stitched up and disinfected wound, “I can feel you glowering from your post.”

“You goddamned took a bullet for me,” John growls.

He could see Oliver shrug then wince without facing him.

“Of course, he would!” Felicity exclaims, finally facing John, a bloodied cotton ball gripped in her hands, “Why wouldn’t he?”

“Felicity …” Oliver says in soft warning, stroking his left hand along her flank.

“No, Oliver,” Felicity responds, fully facing John with her arms across her chest, dislodging Oliver’s hand, “I’d like to know why John’s mad about it.”

“I’m not mad–” John starts and then sees Felicity’s disbelieving raised eyebrow, “OK, fine. I’m livid about it.”

Oliver startles as John’s statement and turns his head to look at him, “Why?” he asks in an awed voice.

“Because you behave as if it’s nothing!” John says, stepping further into the room.

“It’s not nothing, John,” Oliver concedes, turning his head down. Felicity reaches out a hand to stroke his shoulder in comfort.

“Then why?” John insists.

“Why, what?” the couple says in unison, both confused at the question.

“Why would you do such a thing?” John asks angrily, before turning to Felicity, “And why are you so calm about this? Five inches more and it would have been a bullet to the chest or the back!”

“And if I didn’t, it would have been your chest,” Oliver says frowning.

“Yes,” Felicity agrees, “Better Oliver’s arm than your chest, John. Not that it’s better. Better would be no bullet wounds – at all. Less bad. Yeah, less bad. Less fatal.”

John sputters at how the two of them are taking it in stride, unwilling to let go of why this act from Oliver has bothered him but unable to articulate exactly why he was so upset.

“You’re wondering about what this means,” Oliver concludes for him gravely, “Don’t worry, John, it doesn’t have to mean anything.”

John falls silent, looking away.

At John’s silence, Oliver reaches for the t-shirt beside him and puts it on with Felicity’s help. With a hand on Felicity’s shoulder, Oliver get of of the steel med table that he’s been perched on as she attended to him. Hand-in-hand, they walk out of the med bay, Felicity squeezing John’s arm as they walk out of the area.

They leave it at that.

——-

“Oh, good, you’re home,” Lyla greets him as he steps into their apartment, Sara held in her arms, “She refuses to sleep without a cuddle from her daddy.”

Releasing a breath that he feels that he’s been holding in his chest from the moment Oliver stepped into a bullet aimed towards him as he revels in the most welcome sight in the whole wide world – the two loves of his life, cuddling on the couch – he steps into where they were seated.

“Dada!” Sara exclaims, reaching out her hands to hold his jaw, “Dada home!”

“Yes, daddy’s home,” John responds somberly, pulling Sara closer to him as he takes a seat beside Lyla on the couch, nuzzling her jawline in greeting.

“What happened?” Lyla asks, burrowing closer to him, her hand on his chest.

“He took a bullet for me,” John says.

“Who?”

“Oliver,” John replies, some of his anger coming back.

“And you’re angry,” Lyla says for him.

“I don’t know why,” John admits.

Lyla looks at him in that observant way she has, “Because you weren’t expecting it,” she says.

“I should have,” John says, “I should have known that, for him, in the field, nothing has changed.”

“Not just in the field, John,” Lyla argues softly, “He’s still your friend, your partner. No matter how much he tested that.”

“He said, it doesn’t have to mean anything,” John replies, “But it does,” he pulls a sleepy Sara and his wife closer to him.

“It means this,” Lyla says with a smile, clutching him tighter to her.

“It means this.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Lyla asks.

“I don’t know,” John responds, “The two of them – Oliver and Felicity – they made it seem like it was nothing. That it was just another night at the job.”

“And in a way, it was, no?” Lyla prods, “That’s what partners do. They have each others backs. They have your back.”

“I’m not sure that I’m ready for that,” John says.

“It doesn’t mean that they would behave any differently,” Lyla answers.

“I know,” John sighs.

“And it bothers you,” Lyla says.

John nods but doesn’t respond verbally, opting instead to run his nose on his sleeping daughter’s head of curly hair, inhaling her sweet, powdery smell.

Once Sara’s in her crib, sleeping, and they’re getting ready for  bed, Lyla asks, “If the situation were reversed, would you have done the same?”

“Yes,” John responds without hesitation.

“Why?”

“Because he’s my partner and my friend,” John says, “I wouldn’t even think twice about it.”

“So, what’s different with him doing the same for you?” Lyla argues, slipping into her side of the bed.

“Because I didn’t think that partnership went both ways. Not anymore,” John admits, getting into bed, “Not after what he did to my family.”

“So, when he – and Felicity – went back to the city to help the team – and you, you didn’t think the partnership went both ways?” Lyla frowns, relieved that John was finally talking about the situation with Oliver, “When you’ve been working together as a team all these months, you didn’t think that he was your partner?”

“I tried not to think about it,” John says.

“I know,” Lyla nods.

“I’m not ready to forgive him,” John replies sadly, “I’m not sure I’ll ever be.”

“Johnnie …” Lyla starts softly, reaching out to stroke the side of his face, “The thing that you don’t realise is that you already have.”

“What?” John pulls away from her, frowning at her in the darkened bedroom.

“You have,” Lyla insists, “When you took on his mission to save the city. When you trained his sister so she can be safe as she helps the city. When you accepted him back into the team. When you found a way to work with him despite your grudge. When you went with him to Nanda Parbat despite your common objection about bringing Sara back to life. When you allowed yourself to be bothered when he took a bullet for you. You’ve already forgiven him time and again, John.”

As John mulls over her words, Lyla continues, “I think you’re not sure that you’re ready to let him know that you’ve already forgiven him. Because you’re not ready for how it used to be like between the two of you. Because you want to hold on to that grudge, perhaps because you think to let it go would be to disrespect me and Sara for what he did to us.”

“So, you’re saying that we should go back to what we were in the past?” John asks in angry surprise.

“I don’t think you can,” Lyla says calmly, “But if the only reason why you’re holding on to that anger is because of me and Sara, don’t. I understand exactly where Oliver was coming from when he did what he did. The only anger I had for him was that he was betraying you.”

“What do you mean?” John frowns, coming up to kneel on the bed.

“Oliver and I, we came from the Amanda Waller school of doing what needs to be done for the greater good,” Lyla explains, sitting up fully to face her husband, “You know this. You know this about me. You know this about Oliver. I’m not saying it’s an excuse for what he did. But sometimes, it’s enough to justify one’s actions. Sometimes. When he took me, I wasn’t upset that he did. I didn’t even feel like I was in any kind of danger. What I hated about that whole situation was how it would affect _you_ – and your friendship with Oliver. That’s what he betrayed.”

“I’m glad that you should be so casual about this, Lyla,” John scoffs.

“I’m not,” Lyla says firmly, pulling his face to meet hers, “I take your relationships seriously, John. I take your feelings just as seriously. I know Oliver hurt you. And I was angry at him for the longest time for that.”

“You’re not angry at him anymore?” John asks.

“Not since he came back to help you save the city,” Lyla says, “Not since I saw how much he’s been trying to be a better teammate. Definitely not when he takes a bullet for you.”

John sighs but doesn’t say anything.

“You know when I forgave Oliver?” Lyla asks.

“When.”

“When I realised he loves you just as much as he has always,” Lyla says, “That hasn’t changed. Tonight just proves that once again.”

“We are our actions, Lyla,” John argues.

“I agree,” Lyla nods, “And what does Oliver’s actions tonight mean?”

John exhales in acceptance and lays down on the bed again, pulling Lyla towards him.

Lyla allows it.

——-

“It means something,” John states quietly as he enters the bunker, ready for another night out in the field.

Oliver and Felicity are sitting on the same chair in front of her monitors. Well, him on the chair and her on his lap.

As the couple’s attention turn towards him, John continues, “What you did last night – taking that bullet for me – it means something.”

“John, you don’t have to do this,” Oliver says solemnly. Felicity watches them tentatively.

John ignores him, “It means that I was able to go home to see my wife and my child safe. So, thank you.”

“You would have done the same for me,” Oliver responds honestly. Felicity smiles at John.

John nods and allows himself a small smile, “I would have. And I always will.”

“Thank you,” Oliver nods and gives him a relieved smile.

John gives them one more nod in acceptance before heading to the training area.

A few minutes later, Oliver joins him, tossing a pair of escrima sticks at John.

John catches the sticks and takes on a fighting stance, waiting for Oliver to get his own sticks and to step into the training mat.

They begin.

/ end

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted here: http://outoftheclosetshipper.tumblr.com/post/130540197208/a-bullet-to-the-heart


End file.
